Professor claims discrimination in federal lawsuit against Texas A&M-Kingsville

A Latina professor at Texas A&M University-Kingsville last week filed a federal lawsuit against the university, claiming that current and past school leaders have been discriminatory in promoting and hiring Mexican Americans.

Norma Guzman, a professor in the Department of Teacher and Bilingual Education, claimed that various university officials harassed and discriminated against her, and that she was passed over for a promotion in favor of someone less qualified.

Guzman filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January dismissed her discrimination claim.

Guzman also filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. 

The university had not been served with the lawsuit as of Monday, spokeswoman Adriana Garza-Flores said.

“Nonetheless, having reviewed and responded to Guzman’s charge document to the EEOC, we expect to vigorously dispute and defend against claims that she has been a victim of discrimination or retaliation,” she said in an email to the Caller-Times. “Her claims were dismissed by the EEOC, and they are contrary to our core values. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated at our institution.”

Guzman declined to comment for this story. Her attorney is Arthur Vega‎, the general counsel for the San Antonio-based nonprofit Southwest Institute on Poverty and Civil Rights.

In May 2019, Guzman was appointed as interim chair of the Department of Teacher and Bilingual Education. Steve Bain, now the dean of the College of Education and Human Performance, was serving as the college’s interim dean.

Bain did not respond to a request from the Caller-Times for comment. He is not named as a defendant in the suit.

In December 2019, Bain chose to launch a nationwide search for a new department chair — even though faculty in the department had not agreed to an external search for the position, according to the lawsuit.

The lack of faculty input was a violation of the university’s faculty handbook, Guzman said in the lawsuit, and no such decision had been made without faculty input in the previous 10 years.

Guzman didn’t know about the nationwide search until Bain announced the decision in an email to faculty, the lawsuit states. 

Guzman “does not believe this would have happened to a male faculty member or a male in this position and that this pattern of exclusion in the decision making in CEHP was exacerbated” in 2020, the lawsuit reads.

When she asked Bain why he had not asked faculty before making the decision, he said, “I don’t need to include the faculty; this is my decision. I don’t need to include anyone in the decision,” according to the lawsuit.

In spring 2020, Hussey, the university president, implemented a “flexible” hiring freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Any job posting had to come from the college dean, then be approved by the provost and by Hussey.

Guzman said in the lawsuit that at no point did Bain give faculty the rationale for continuing the nationwide search for the department chair during the pandemic. 

Guzman contends that Hussey made the hiring freeze flexible “to accommodate the direction and intent” of Bain’s search for a department chair.

Garza-Flores, the spokeswoman, said all universities in the Texas A&M University System implemented a flexible hiring freeze in March 2020. Unlike a firm hiring freeze, a flexible freeze allowed the university to move forward with essential hires, she said.

“Leadership in Academic Affairs, including the Provost and Dean, deemed this position critical, and that is why a national search was conducted to identify the most qualified candidate,” Garza-Flores said in an email. “This position was one of two approved in the College of Education and Human Performance during the flexible freeze.”

Guzman claims that Bain began treating her “with disdain(,) creating a hostile work environment and harassing her, through micro-aggressive behavior” to deny her the opportunity to be chosen as chair of the department.

She said that behavior included implying he could have her fired, belittling her in front of her colleagues, removing her as the lead of a department program and replacing her with someone she claimed was less qualified.

In a work appraisal, Bain gave Guzman negative comments without providing supporting evidence or corrective criticism, according to the lawsuit.

She believes Bain used the performance evaluation as retaliation after she presented him with a seven-page document listing complaints from department faculty.

An administrative assistant in the department resigned in April 2020 and told the human resources director she was doing so because of a “hostile work environment” and that Bain “wanted her gone.” The director did not conduct an investigation, according to Guzman's lawsuit.

Guzman completed her application for chair of the Department of Teacher and Bilingual Education in late April, and she was selected as a finalist in July. 

In August, Bain announced that the new department chair was Elvira Sanatullova-Allison. 

Guzman said in the lawsuit that three of the five search committee members “voluntarily indicated” Sanatullova-Allison was not their first choice.

She said she was at least as qualified as Sanatullova-Allison and, as a Mexican American and a Spanish speaker, was a better match for the demographics of the university, which is a Hispanic Serving Institution — a federal designation for colleges and universities where at least 25% of undergraduates are Hispanic.

Guzman said she asked the human resources director about options for submitting a grievance related to a hostile work environment in the College of Education and Human Performance.  The director said she would need to file a faculty grievance or a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because he did not believe the incident constituted harassment. 

Guzman believed he “intentionally misrepresented the severity of her disclosure, as evident of his taking no action” when the administrative assistant who resigned complained of a hostile work environment.

Garza-Flores, the university spokeswoman, said Guzman “was invited to provide information in support of her claims of a hostile work environment and she elected against doing so.”

The lawsuit says the university’s actions have caused Guzman past and future lost earnings, injury to her reputation and mental anguish.

In response to Guzman’s claims, Garza-Flores said in an email, “We believe Dr. Guzman has been treated with respect and been treated fairly.”

Vicky Camarillo covers Nueces County and statewide issues. See our subscription options and special offers at Caller.com/subscribe.